FIRST LOOK: CANTOR AIMS TO REBRAND HOUSE GOP — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor gives a major policy address, entitled “Making Life Work,” at AEI today, part of a recent effort to move beyond a strict focus on budget cutting and onto broader policy terrain, including initiatives aimed at younger women with families. Cantor is all over the airwaves in advance including MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” “CBS This Morning,” CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Bloomberg TV and elsewhere

From Cantor remarks not yet publicly released: “In our attempt to make the tax code simpler, we must continue to demonstrate support for young parents who invest in having kids and raising a family. They are America's most valued investors. … In 1997, a Republican Congress created the child tax credit specifically to help ease the financial burden of families raising children. In 2001, it was expanded. Such a policy helps to limit the size of government and results in fewer Americans looking to the government for support.”

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From publicly released excerpts: “One of our priorities this year will be to move heaven and earth to fix our education system for the most vulnerable. … Explaining that rising health care costs are depressing take-home pay is little consolation to a working mom. Her grocery bills are higher, her kids' school needs are more expensive, rent is up – and now, she's just trying to get by. And getting by is not the American dream.”

COFFEE WITH MORNING MONEY:U.S. ECONOMY AT RISK EDITION — M.M. sat down for coffee Monday with Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. Shepherdson, a Brit who was once a neighbor of Bill and Hillary Clinton in Chappaqua, N.Y., is a firm believer that the biggest impediment to faster U.S. growth is uncertainty — especially among small business owners — over the direction of U.S. fiscal policy and the constant threat of Washington-engineered meltdowns. “What growth we have now is not terrible but it could be so much better if Washington would just get out of the way,” Shepherdson said over decaf cappuccino.

And Shepherdson is not at all convinced the debt ceiling, which is now suspended at least through May and probably until August, has been removed as a threat to the economy. “Things are about to get a lot worse with headlines over the sequester and the continuing resolution,” Shepherdson said. He added that the U.S. economy could probably withstand a little bit more austerity from the sequester — even though it would be far from ideal — but could not withstand both more austerity and another fight over the debt ceiling this summer.

HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES MEMBERS DINE TOGETHER — Per an M.M. spy: “Spotted: Last night eating at Lavagna on Barracks Row not far from the Capitol, Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, ranking member Maxine Waters and almost all other members of the committee. The bipartisan gathering was Hensarling’s idea. Not meant to be a ‘kumbayah’ moment … but rather a chance ‘to spend some time together, get to know each other a little better and perhaps set some expectations for how the committee will operate.’ The new chairman told the bipartisan group he will insist on civility during the panel’s deliberations.

“‘The American people — those who sent us here — expect us to conduct ourselves in a manner that brings honor to this institution.’ Two members of the committee — Republican Shelley Moore Capito and Democrat Emanuel Cleaver — are co-founders of the Civility Caucus. Cleaver could not attend the dinner, but Capito spoke before the members dined on rigatoni pesto, fettuccine Bolognese and tiramisu prepared by Executive Chef Darren Maas.”

TRANSITIONS: McFADDEN RETIRES AT MORGAN STANLEY — Jeanmarie McFadden, long-time communications pro at Morgan Stanley (and no stranger to late-night M.M. phone calls) is stepping down after a 17-year run. From the internal memo to staff from Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman: “As global press coverage of our industry intensified in recent years, Jeanmarie’s instincts, relationships and news judgment made her a trusted advisor to senior management. During some of the most challenging years in Morgan Stanley’s 77-year history, Jeanmarie represented the firm to the media – steadfastly and with great integrity, projecting our culture and values.” Full memo: http://goo.gl/79ZJT

TRANSITIONS II: CUTLER JOINS TEAM CANTOR — Aaron Cutler, formerly of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has joined the House Majority Leader’s office as senior advisor for policy and outreach. In addition to energy, Cutler, who spent four years at law firms working on hedge fund formation and derivatives trading, will work on financial services, among other issues.

HOT CLICK: HILLARY EDITION – Hillary Clinton has a new website up, HillaryClintonOffice.com, that’s presumably a place-holder for what could be a 2016 presidential campaign. One odd note: It’s registered through GoDaddy.com, whose ad campaign, focusing on scantily clad women, is hardly a progressive’s dream. http://goo.gl/cuOy3

THIS MORNING ON POLITICO PRO FINANCE -- Jon Prior and Patrick Reis on DOJ v. S&P. … Prior on a move by Fannie and Freddie that could help FHFA’s program for underwater borrowers. … To learn more about Pro's subscriber-only coverage -- and to get Morning Money every day before 6 a.m. -- please contact Pro Services at (703) 341-4600 or info@politicopro.com.

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING — M.M. is on Current TV’s “Viewpoint” tonight in the 8 p.m. hour to talk about the Justice Department’s expected lawsuit against S&P. As always, send your tips and comments to bwhite@politico.com and follow on Twitter: @ morningmoneyben and @ POLITICOPro.

DRIVING THE DAY – President Barack Obama has meetings with progressive and labor leaders and business executives to talk about immigration, deficit reduction and other issues. Executives headed to the White House include Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Revolution LLC CEO Steve Case … Cantor speaks at AEI at 1 p.m. EST … ISM non-manufacturing at 10 a.m. EST expected to dip to 55.0 from 56.7 … House Judiciary has an immigration reform hearing at 10:15 a.m.

** Presented by Promontory: Financial services executives are reassessing the regulatory landscape as President Obama begins his second term. Promontory CEO Gene Ludwig in a Sightlines Q&A offers his thoughts on the fulcrum shift that portends a new era in financial services. http://bit.ly/X5XBio **

TECH BLINK: DELL NEARS DEAL TO GO PRIVATE — WSJ’s Ben Worthen and Anupreeta Das: “Michael Dell is close to finishing a risky $23 billion deal to take private the computer company he founded nearly 30 years ago, in an effort to remake Dell Inc. for a post-PC era. … Late Monday, Mr. Dell was in talks with Microsoft Corp. and private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners to offer shareholders between $13.50 and $13.75 a share … about a 25 percent premium to Dell's stock price in January before the possibility of a deal became public.

“The buyout, if approved by shareholders, would be the largest such deal since the financial crisis. It also would be an admission by Mr. Dell that he wasn't able to pull off the changes needed to improve his company's revenue and profit under Wall Street's glare. … Mr. Dell has also had to endure critical comparisons of the financial performance of his company and Apple Inc., a matter of particular frustration, according to people familiar with the matter.” http://goo.gl/I9eg3

EUROPE FEARS REIGNITE — FT’s Vivianne Rodrigues: “Global stocks started the week in sharp retreat on renewed worries over the outlook for the eurozone as a report on factory orders in the U.S. missed Wall Street estimates. Building eurozone political worries provided an excuse for some profit-taking in growth-focused products after sharp gains in stocks late last week. … Yields for 10-year Treasuries at one point touched 2.04 percent, the most in nine months, but eased back to close 6 basis points lower at 1.96 percent. … The performance of the euro also gave a clue to the source of the market’s caution. The single currency retreated from a 14-month high, losing 1 percent to $1.3509, as concern returned about the political position in Spain and Italy, two of the eurozone’s fiscally-strapped nations.” http://goo.gl/fltm3

TOP STORY: S&P TARGETED BY JUSTICE — NYT’s Andrew Ross Sorkin and Mary Williams Walsh on Page A1: “The Justice Department plans to file civil fraud charges against the nation's largest credit-ratings agency, Standard & Poor's, accusing the firm of inflating the ratings of mortgage investments. … The suit, expected to be filed as early as this week, would be the first significant federal action against the ratings industry, which during the boom years reaped record profits as it bestowed gilt-edged ratings on complex bundles of home loans that quickly went sour. … More than a dozen state prosecutors are expected to join the federal suit, and the New York attorney general is preparing a separate action. …

“Settlement talks between S&P and the Justice Department broke down in the last two weeks after prosecutors sought a penalty in excess of $1 billion and insisted that the company admit wrongdoing. … That amount would wipe out the profits of S&P's parent, the McGraw-Hill Companies, for an entire year. … S&P, which was first contacted by federal enforcement officials three years ago, said in a statement Monday that it had acted in good faith when it issued the ratings.” http://goo.gl/tvGGK

AUSTERITY WARNING FROM THE U.K. – WSJ’s Alex Brittain and Ilona Billington: “The U.K. economy will narrowly escape recession at the start of this year but is set for ‘very, very weak growth’ in 2013 as a whole, a think tank said Tuesday. The forecast … sets the stage for another 12 months of pressure on Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne to soften his austerity drive as the economy looks likely to sputter. …

“The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said in its report Tuesday it expects the economy to expand by 0.7 percent during this year as a whole, a tepid recovery following stagnation in 2012. … The economy's lackluster performance since mid-2010, when the coalition government took power, has led to criticism of the austerity policies it has implemented to curb public borrowing.” http://goo.gl/QZIav

ALSO FOR YOUR RADAR –

SO YOU WANNA WORK AT GOLDMAN? — Per a little birdie: Goldman Sachs today “is launching two digital recruiting tools — one is an iPhone app that will help college students manage the recruiting process and, two, a new online careers quiz that is a fun way for anyone, not just recruits, to learn more about the firm — take it yourself!” App: http://goo.gl/GvHGG. Quiz: http://goo.gl/Q2qAj

THE COST OF FIGHTING GLOBAL WARMING — Fiscal Times’s Josh Boak: “Shivers must have run down the spines of some congressmen and energy industry executives when President Obama pledged during his inaugural address to tackle global warming. But what exactly do Obama’s words mean? How much money would be spent? And can the president possibly succeed? In short, the answers are: 1.) Crack down on aging power plants; 2.) The cost could swing between $4 billion to close to $100 billion a year, but no one really knows, and 3.) Congress might actually be the least of the president’s obstacles.” http://goo.gl/CYqaN

AEI PUSHES BACK ON WP WI-FI STORY — AEI’s Jeff Eisenach argues that the WP piece linked to in M.M. yesterday on tech vs. telecom on Wi-Fi “is almost entirely fiction. The FCC has not proposed large public Wi-Fi and the real dispute is a highly technical one about implementing an auction to transfer some spectrum from broadcast TV to wireless broadband providers.” http://goo.gl/bOCbp

HAPPENING TODAY: KAUFFMAN FOUNDATION EVENT — Per M.M. source: “At the Kauffman Foundation's annual State of Entrepreneurship address, the foundation's recently appointed President and CEO Tom McDonnell will present recommendations for how government can encourage more financing for entrepreneurial ventures. Proposals will include: the SEC encouraging experimentation in crowdfunding, more use of auctions (like Google's Dutch auction) for IPOs and granting bank regulators at the local level greater discretion.” http://goo.gl/cTam3

DODD-FRANK PROGRESS REPORT — Per latest Davis Polk Dodd-Frank Progress Report: “In the past month, a total of 42 Dodd-Frank rulemaking requirement deadlines passed and 12 rulemaking requirements were met with finalized rules. No new rules that would meet rulemaking requirements were proposed. … As of February 1, 2013, a total of 279 Dodd-Frank rulemaking requirement deadlines have passed. This is 70.1 percent of the 398 total rulemaking requirements, and 99.6 percent of the 280 rulemaking requirements with specified deadlines.” Full report: http://goo.gl/avcOJ

FIRST LOOK: RETAIL POLICY AGENDA – From The Retail Industry Leaders Association’s 2013 Public Policy Agenda, which is going out to all members of Congress later this morning: “Comprehensive tax reform and e-fairness top a list focused on issues that will help promote growth. … Also on the agenda is easing employers’ task of implementing of the Affordable Care Act, fighting a morass of labor regulations and the continued battle to reform debit and credit card swipe fees.”

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Authors:

About The Author

Ben White is POLITICO Pro's chief economic correspondent and author of the “Morning Money” column covering the nexus of finance and public policy.

Prior to joining POLITICO in the fall of 2009, Mr. White served as a Wall Street reporter for the New York Times, where he shared a Society of Business Editors and Writers award for breaking news coverage of the financial crisis.

From 2005 to 2007, White was Wall Street correspondent and U.S. Banking Editor at the Financial Times.

White worked at the Washington Post for nine years before joining the FT. He served as national political researcher and research assistant to columnist David S. Broder and later as Wall Street correspondent.

White, a 1994 graduate of Kenyon College, has two sons and lives in New York City.